Always
by Perfectly Lonely
Summary: Takes place around the end of Season 9 following Lois and Clark's breakup. One-shot.


This is just a cheesy little one-shot I wrote a while ago, and just now got around to writing the ending of it after about two months. Got the idea for it from the movie Crazy Stupid Love, and because everything in my life revolves around clois, I figured I'd write something like it for them. Hope you enjoy it.

Oh also, this is set around the end of season 9/beginning of season 10 and in this version the kiss didn't happen so Lois still doesn't know that Clark is the Blur.

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><p>Clark stood on the balcony of the Talon gazing at Lois through the translucent doors with a heavy heart. Lately he had been coming here at night to see her, the temptation of being able to look at her without causing any awkwardness between them too much for him to resist. He knew it wasn't right to watch her when she was unaware of his presence, but he couldn't stop himself from gazing into her apartment, carefully moving himself so he was hidden from view.<p>

It wasn't like he wanted this anyway. He didn't want to miss her so badly that he felt like he needed to lurk in the shadows in the hopes that he could catch a glimpse of her face as she wandered around her apartment. He didn't want to feel like he wasn't welcome in her life anymore. And he most certainly didn't want to go back to being just friends after what they had shared.

No, he didn't want any of that. And yet here he was watching the woman he loved with longing eyes while Lois sat inside, completely oblivious to the sad man standing outside her window. The man whose heart ached so strongly for her that he was sure it could kill him if he wasn't careful.

Lois was sitting on her couch with the remote in her hand absentmindedly flipping through channels, her eyes not fully focused on what was flashing by in front of her. After a few more seconds she let out a sigh and turned the TV off, throwing the remote down her with a defeated expression on her face. She looked sad tonight, Clark mused, and he wondered what it was that was troubling her. He felt a pang in his heart as he realized that he was no longer the person she confided in when it came to things like that.

Ever since their breakup a few months ago Lois had become distant, and their relationship had become a bit awkward. He hadn't wanted to break up, Lois had been the one to do it after all, but he couldn't help but feel like he caused the whole thing in the first place. He hadn't been honest with Lois about himself, and he couldn't really blame her for doing what she did. He couldn't expect her to understand why he was always disappearing, or why he acted like an overprotective jealous boyfriend when he tried to convince her not to talk to who she thought was the Blur.

When he had found out that Zod was pretending to be him, he had been furious. It killed him to know that he was putting Lois in danger, and he had tried to explain to her why she shouldn't talk to the Blur anymore, but it had not worked out the way he planned. How could he make her understand if he couldn't tell her the truth? In the end he had just come off looking like a jerk, and their relationship had fallen apart as a result of his dishonesty.

This was not at all the way Clark had wanted things to turn out. Everything had been perfect between them. After years of denying his feelings for Lois he had finally made his move, and to his amazement Lois hadn't pushed him away. She had jumped in with him headfirst, and what had already been a beautiful friendship had evolved into something that was so much more. For the first time in his life he had experienced what it was like to be truly happy, and he wondered every day what he had done to deserve someone as wonderful as Lois. The truth was, Clark was completely in love with her, and he only wished he would have told her when he had the chance.

The shrill sound of his cell phone ringing broke him out of his haze, and he quickly flipped it open in an attempt to silence the noise before Lois realized he was out there. Bringing the phone to his ear he scanned the apartment for Lois, but felt a twinge of disappointment when he was met with an empty room.

"Hello?" he said quietly into the phone, his voice just loud enough to be heard over the phone, but quiet enough so Lois wouldn't hear him.

"Clark?" came Lois' hesitant voice from the other end of the phone.

He felt his pulse start to race as the sound of her voice rang through his ears, and he held the phone closer, his heart pounding in his chest.

"Lois" he breathed, his voice raspy with emotion. Why was she phoning him? How long had it been since he had heard her beautiful voice coming from his cell phone? Too long, he decided as Lois came into view again and sat back down in the couch.

"Is something wrong?" he managed to ask, his eyes never leaving her face.

Clark heard her take a deep breath, and then her voice was filling his ears again, "Um, yeah, sort of" she sputtered out nervously. Why was she nervous? Clark continued to watch her, feeling more and more perplexed as the seconds ticked by.

"What is it?" He asked in a soft tone, his throat tight with emotion as he tried his best to keep it out of his voice.

He watched as she fiddled with the magazine on the coffee table in front of her, amused at just how nervous she actually looked.

"Well, the thing is, I had a huge craving for Mrs.K's famous hot chocolate, but you know me and cooking; I can't remember for the life of me how to make it."

Clark furrowed his brow in confusion as he looked over at the dark kitchen for signs of hot chocolate, and found the counter completely empty of any and all ingredients.

"Lois, making hot chocolate is hardly cooking" he teased, a warm feeling spreading over him. He hadn't realized just how much he had missed this kind of thing until now.

"I know" she admitted, "I just wanted to get it right. You know nothing can compare to your mom's hot cocoa."

A grin crept onto his face as he sat down on the ledge of the balcony, his eyes still locked on Lois.

"Well, let's get it right then."

"Okay, so walk me through it" she said determinedly, a smile of her own appearing on her face.

He hesitated a moment, waiting for her to walk to the kitchen, but she made no move to get up from the couch. Unsure of what was happening he began explaining the steps, his questioning eyes focused intently on Lois.

"Alright, do you have milk, sugar, and cocoa powder?" he asked.

"Yeah, I have them" she said as she sank lower into the couch, the phone clutched tightly to her ear.

"Okay first you mix a cup of milk and four teaspoons each of the sugar and cocoa powder together in a pot, and put it on the stove on high."

"Okay" she said as though she was deeply concentrated on doing what he was saying. He noticed that her voice sounded a little shaky, and he moved closer to the glass doors to get a better look at her.

"Now you're going to want to keep stirring it until it boils, and as soon as it boils take it off the stove and add in a teaspoon of vanilla." He didn't even hear the words that were coming out of his mouth as he studied her face, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. He felt conflicted as he watched her, wanting so badly to ask her what was wrong, but knowing he couldn't without revealing his hiding place.

"Is it boiling?" he asked softly, tears of his own beginning to form in his eyes as he fought the urge to burst into the room and take her into his arms. He had missed her so much, and this phone call meant more to him than she could ever know.

"Mhmm" she mumbled almost inaudibly, closing her eyes as a small smile appeared on her face.

"Now you just have to add the vanilla and you're good to go" Clark said through strangled breath, his feelings overtaking him and making it nearly impossible to form words.

"Thanks Clark" she said quietly, her voice soft and delicate. His super hearing picking up on the slight hitch in her words as she fought to hold back tears.

Clark moved even closer to doors, vulnerability drawing him in. He couldn't fight the feelings that were taking over his heart any longer, and the words were out of his mouth before he had a chance to stop them.

"Lois, are you alright?"

He watched her as he slowly sat up and ran her hand through her hair while her other hand gently traced patterns on the couch.

"It's just been one of those days, you know?"

He did know. It had been a hard day. Every day since their breakup had been hard.

"Yeah, I do" he said sincerely.

"It's stupid really."

"I'm sure it isn't stupid."

"Thanks Smallville, but how do you know?"

His heart almost stopped when he heard the name she hadn't called him in over three months come out of her lips, and he saw her eyes widen slightly as she realized her slip up. He forced himself to continue, not wanting her to come to her senses and end the phone call.

"Lois, I know you. You don't get upset about things that don't matter. So whatever it is, it's not stupid."

Lois let out a sigh, and he noticed that the look of sadness she had been wearing earlier was back.

"Do you ever look back on your life and wish that things could have gone differently?" she asked him, her voice heavy with regret.

Her question struck him hard. She had no idea.

"Every day Lois."

"Yeah" she sighed, "me too."

She had no idea just how often he had done that in the past few months. How many times had he replayed the night of their breakup in his head? How many times had he imagined what things would be like if he had been honest with her and hadn't let her go?

He watched as she got up from the couch and walked towards the balcony doors, quickly moving himself further into the shadows so he wouldn't be spotted.

She looked out through the glass doors with haunted eyes and a sad smile, carefully tracing her fingers across the surface, touching the place his hand had been only moments earlier.

"Clark?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you."

"What for?" he asked, genuinely curious.

"For listening. For being there for me."

"Always" he assured her. And he meant it. No matter where they were in life, or what their relationship was, he would always be there for her.

He felt his heart break as a tear slid down her cheek, and he once again had to fight the urge to run inside and take the hurt away.

Lois turned her back to him and leaned against the door, cradling the phone against her ear like she was afraid it was going to vanish.

"We were good together, weren't we?" she asked, the wall between them dwindling with each passing minute.

Clark emerged from the shadows and inched closer to the window, needing to be as close to her as possible. He felt a wave of emotion run through him as let memories take over, allowing himself to remember the happiness he had felt when they were together.

"Yeah" he said with a smile, "we were."

Clark lifted his hand and touched it gently to the glass, his fingers tracing over where Lois' shoulder was pressed up against the window.

"Is it too late for us Clark?" she asked tentatively. "Did we miss our chance?"

His heart leapt into his throat, her words igniting a feeling of hope within him that gave him confidence he didn't even know he had.

"It's not too late" he whispered.

Lois froze as she realized his voice hadn't come from the phone. Time stood still as she slowly turned around, visibly sucking in a breath as she laid her eyes on the man standing in front of her.

"Clark" she gasped, dropping the phone from her ear.

Clark followed suit and lowered the phone, his eyes never leaving hers as he held his breath in anticipation.

Lois timidly reached out and grasped both door handles in her hands, pulling them open simultaneously; the final barrier between them removed.

They stood there in silence just staring at each other, their eyes conveying so much more than words ever could. Lois took a step closer until she was standing almost right in front of him.

"I was lying about the hot chocolate" she admitted in a barely audible whisper, nervously biting her lip as she waited for his response.

"I know" he confessed, and then he was moving towards her, his lips crashing onto hers as he pulled her into him- the sheer force of his action causing Lois to stumble backwards a few steps. Her hands instinctively went up to grasp his face, and they pulled apart for a second only to come back together as Clark pulled her even closer to him. They broke apart when the need for air became necessary and pressed their foreheads against each other, breathing hard.

"I'm so sorry for everything" Lois said as she swallowed the lump that was forming in her throat. Clark's hand came up to cradle her face, and he stared at her with such intensity that it made her blush.

"No, I'm the one that's sorry" he choked out. "I shouldn't have let you walk away that night. I should have fought for you. Because you fight for the people you love."

Lois pulled away from him and stepped back, surprised by his words.

"The people you love?"

Clark copied her movement, bringing them together once again.

"I love you Lois Lane" he said passionately, not wanting her to doubt his feelings for her any longer. She reached up slowly and gently touched his face, her eyes sparkling with emotion. Leaning forward, she kissed him softly, her other hand coming up to stroke his face. When she broke away again she was beaming.

"I love you too Smallville."

A grin overtook his face, as he pulled her into his arms and buried his face in her hair.

"You have no idea how good it feels to hear you call me that" he confessed.

"You have no idea how good it feels to say it" Lois said as she nestled her head in the crook of his neck breathing him in.

"I'm sorry I lied to you about why I phoned. I just needed to hear your voice" she admitted, her words muffled by his shirt. "I missed you."

Clark pulled back slightly and cupped her face so he could look her in the eyes.

"Oh Lois, I don't care that you lied about why you phoned. I'm just glad you did. I missed you too. I missed everything about you Lo. And that includes you stealing my coffee if you can believe it" he said with a laugh, enjoying the feeling of her soft skin under his fingers way too much.

His thumb traced her cheek as she bit her lip and grinned up at him, unintentionally driving him crazy. God she was beautiful.

"I knew you liked it" she teased as she inched closer to him, bringing her lips so close to his he could feel her hot breath on his face.

"Maybe I just like you" he whispered, lightly grazing his lips across hers.

A shiver went down his spine at the slight contact, and he pulled her body closer to him, his hands now tangled in her hair.

"Oh yeah?" she asked as she kissed him softly, their lips barely touching.

"Yeah"

The moment the word left his mouth he placed his hand on the back of Lois' head and pulled her towards him, his lips crashing over hers with an urgency he could no longer control. He felt her mouth open under his, and let out a small moan when their tongues tangled together, his fingers weaved throughout her hair. A soft whimper escaped her mouth as he gently took her bottom lip between his teeth, and he couldn't help but smile against her mouth, an overwhelming feeling of happiness flooding through him.

Kissing Lois was heaven. How he had gone so long without it escaped him, but he knew he never wanted to go without it again. And standing there in the doorway of her apartment with his lips pressed hard against hers, Clark knew that he would never want to kiss anyone else as long as he lived. It would always be Lois for him. She was all he would ever need.

They broke apart again after a moment and she rested her head on his chest, letting out a sigh of contentment as she tightened her hold on him. Clark rested his cheek on her head and closed his eyes, his heart so full it felt like it was going to beat out of his chest.

Tomorrow he would tell her everything, he decided. Tomorrow he would tell her all of the things he had wanted to tell her for so long, and he would deal with whatever the consequences were. But for now, he just wanted to have this. So he continued to sway slowly from side to side, a blissful warmth spreading throughout his body as they moved to a rhythm that only they could hear. He opened his eyes to gaze down at the woman he loved more than life itself, and couldn't help the huge grin that spread across his face at the sight of her cradled in his arms.

All this time Clark had been worried that they wouldn't be able to work things out, but standing here with her in his arms, he knew that they would always be able to find their way back to each other. No matter how hard things got, or how much things changed, Clark knew his feelings for Lois would always remain the same.

There was never going to be a day when she didn't take his breath away, or a day when the mere sight of her didn't cause his heart to skip a beat. She was the one, he realized with a smile, and he was going to spend the rest of his life making sure she knew that.

He knew that the future didn't hold any promises, and that it was impossible to know exactly where life would lead them, but the one thing Clark knew with absolute certainty was that wherever it was, he would always be right behind her. Always and forever.


End file.
